“All I have is hunger – I don’t care if the people protest or not… With what strength will I protest if my stomach is empty since yesterday?”

Soon after a month-long hiatus from publication, the central bank said late on Friday the total amount of local currency in circulation, M2, as of March 24 was 13.3 trillion bolivars, up 202.9% from a year earlier.

While NATO-Russia headlines have been all doom and gloom recently, there are some signs the situation may take a turn for the better.

One day after the US announced it had dispatched the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group in the contested South Chine Sea on “routine” patrols, China responded in a statement by the foreign ministry, Beijing said on Tuesday that it opposed action by other countries “under the pretext of freedom of navigation” that could “threaten and damage” its sovereignty, a clear reference to US patrols in territory that China considers its own.

Iran has removed a powerful missile from a launchpad east of Tehran within the past few days, Fox News reported, amid rising diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and Iran, as the two nations continued trading public barbs about the Islamic Republic’s missile tests.

On Friday US officials announced they had moved a Navy destroyer, the USS Cole, off the coast of Yemen to protect waterways from Houthi militia aligned with Iran, according to Reuters, citing heightened tension between Washington and Tehran.

Confirming that the US role in the Syrian conflict is likely to expand in the coming months, the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State has supplied its Syrian allies with armored vehicles for the first time, expanding support since U.S. President Donald Trump came to office.

On Wednesday morning Beijing sent a group of Chinese warships led by China’s sole aircraft carrier north through the Taiwan Strait, resulting in Taiwan scrambling jets and navy ships in the latest sign of heightened tensions between China and the self-ruled Taiwan.

Several buses en route to evacuate the sick and injured from two government-held villages in Syria’s Idlib province have been burned by “moderate rebels” beloning to the Jabhat Fatah al-Sham group, formerly known as the Nusra Front, and which has been receiving military support from the US-coalition.

“China has decided to transfer it to the U.S. through appropriate means…and regrets the US publicly hyping the incident.” The statement also accused the U.S. of long deploying ships “in China’s presence” to conduct “military surveying,” and in a separate report Chinese Navy officials warned “if China needs to take it, we’ll take it. (America) can’t block us.”

China has seized an unmanned, underwater US navy vehicle inside off international waters in the South China Sea; leading to a formal request by the US demanding the return of the vehicle.

Drone footage has revealed extreme devastation in eastern Aleppo, once Syria’s largest city and thriving economic center with its renowned ancient sites, with crumbling homes and deserted streets replacing a once-lively area of the city.

“Upholding the ‘one China’ principle is the political basis of developing China-U.S. relations, and is the cornerstone of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” said An Fengshan, a spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office. “Upholding the ‘one China’ principle is the political basis of developing China-U.S. relations, and is the cornerstone of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

Turkey has been actively seeking to distance itself from the west and to gravitate toward a sphere of influence dominated by Russia and China. To this end, the NATO member announced it is in talks with Russia to purchase advanced S-400 long-range air defense missile systems.

Having thrown in the towel on hyperinflation by printing banknotes with 200-times-higher denominations, Bloomberg reports that things in Venezuela have continued to get worse with the currency now so devalued (with even simple purchases requiring so many bills) that instead of counting bills, they are weighing them.

Venezuela’s highest denomination bill in circulation, 100 bolivars, is worth approximately 8 cents on the black market now. And though Maduro and the local government sternly refused to admit reality they are now having to change their tune. They are planning to issue new bills in December with larger denominations—up to 200 times higher than the current biggest bill. The new coins and notes will go up to 20,000 bolivars, making the biggest note worth about $15 on the black market.

NATO will press its member allies on Wednesday to “contribute to its biggest military build-up on Russia’s borders since the Cold War ” as the alliance prepares for a protracted quarrel with Moscow.

Speculation swirls over the fate of Julian Assange as his colleagues and the Ecuadorian government go silent.

“Julian Assange’s internet link has been intentionally severed by a state party. We have activated the appropriate contingency plans.” ~ WikiLeaks Tweet (hold onto your hats kiddos, the data dump has begun)